The Makings of a Career
by lostintransmission
Summary: "So you want to train me to be picked as the female tribute over the other girls because I can throw a knife and don't make you throw up?" Clove snorted in disbelief. Everything changes when Clove joins the possible tributes for District 2 and meets Cato.
1. First

**Cato/Clove pairing; before the Hunger Games. Cato and Clove have dedicated their lives to becoming the tributes for District Two but before the games what could have been between the two?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, solely the plot to this story.**

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There he was, the huge blonde boy with the smirk on his face as he approached me from the other side of the huge room. It was the biggest training room in the district with the most weapons too. A whole wall was dedicated to every sort of weapon and useful equipment you could imagine. Of course it was against the rules to train tributes before the games but getting into the 7th training course only meant one thing; you were in consideration along with five others to become a tribute.

"Welcome to where the big kids play," the boy leered, "I'm Cato."

Cato. I remembered my mother talking about him. He'd been trying to become the District two tribute for the last four years and apparently this year was his year. All bets were going to be placed on Cato. After watching him train, I wouldn't blame them.

"I'm Clove, the replacement for Librae," I said as I put on the protective armour that was handed to me by a trainer.

I had been moves up to the 7th training course as a substitute for Librae after she was critically injured. Apparently she was in no condition to compete as tribute.

"I know, stabbed her pancreas myself," said Cato with a hint of pride while jabbing the ground with his spear absentmindedly, "accidentally of course but I mistook her for a dummy and she wasn't very good at defending herself. Hardly tribute material if you ask me."

"I didn't ask," I said shortly and walked off towards the weaponry wall.

I picked out a handful of wide combat knives and examined a ballistic knife which could fire a blade with the push of a button while the other members of the class walked in. There was Blossom who had the body of a hulk and an ironic name, Wade who was famous for his skill with a mace, Thorburn who, like Cato, used a spear as his weapon as well as the sword and Silver Baxwoll who was known for bribing her way into the 7th training course but not really for much else. They all seemed friendly with an outward glance, especially with the laughter and teasing but I could see a guard of mistrust and watchfulness in their eyes. I didn't want to be another one of them.

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	2. A Question

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, and by the looks of it, nor will I ever.**

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After a hard day of training, I showered and headed out of the training arena. Everyone was nice enough, but I wasn't in this for the laughs, I was here to win the games and I made that clear. I wasn't going to fake anything. I was nice enough towards the other girls but not nice enough to get attached or for them to underestimate me. The boys were the usual tribute material: cocky, huge, and ruthless. The kind I had been underestimated by for most of my life.

"Hey, knife girl!" a voice called from behind me and pulled me out of my thoughts. It was Cato again. What did he want this time? Maybe make fun of my training technique or build up his bigger than average ego by patronising me.

"My name is _Clove_," I whipped my head around and snarled. I wasn't going to take any of his rubbish.

He looked down at me in amusement and smirked, "fine, Clove. Impressive training session, you're good and I don't just say that to everyone."

"Thank you." My brow furrowed in confusion, what was his game?

"We can discuss tactics if you want right now…you know, I'll give you handy tips and you can thank me."

"I can't tell if you're being serious or not but I have better things to do with my time than hang out with an egoist mutt," I growled and promptly started walking away.

"Hey, come on! I was being nice!" Cato yelled and jogged on beside me, "what's your problem anyway? I'm trying to help you from getting eaten alive by the rest of the girls."

"Why would you do that?" I asked, "What's in it for you? Don't give me that look either; you're one of those guys who wouldn't do anything for anyone unless there was something in it for you."

"I'm going to be the male tribute this year," he stated simply and I slowed down my pace a little to try and process what Cato was saying to me.

"Cocky, arrogant, self-centred idiot," I muttered under my breath. Unluckily he seemed to have heard my comment.

"You can say what you want Clove but we both know the other guys stand no chance against me…it's practically fixed and if I don't get picked as tribute you can bet the odds that my parents would pay to have the male tribute fall ill or lose a leg. _This is my year_," his voice throbbed with pride and aggression but underneath that I could hear a layer of something that sounded like desperation.

"So what does that have to do with helping me?" I demanded with a suspicion already growing in my mind

"I want District Two to win and the only way I can do that is by having a competent female tribute along with me," I wondered if he ever heard what came out of his mouth before as he explained, "Silver Baxwoll is incompetent and I would have shot her pancreas down too if her father wasn't the Mayor. As for Blossom, she's impressive with the sword, of course not as impressive as me, but it always helps if the two tributes have different strengths. And I doubt she'll be winning many sponsors…she isn't exactly a vision of beauty."

I suppressed a chuckle at Cato's comments. Who would have known he'd ever be this amusing.

"So…you want to train me to be picked as the female tribute above the other girls because I can throw a knife and don't make you throw up?" I said in disbelief, raising my eyebrows. I realised that Cato had been leading the way to the main street and it looked like we were heading towards Geri's, a salon like drinks bar. He opened the door for me and gave me a questioning look.

"Well?" Cato said impatiently.

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	3. Behind Blue Eyes

**Hello lovely readers, here's a disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games but solely the plot to this story.**

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It had been about a week since I had accepted Cato's proposition grudgingly after his many lectures about how his method was the only foolproof way I could become tribute. Since then Cato had made me train relentlessly long after training sessions had finished. He was a lot less amusing when he made me practice every defense technique in existence, throw knives and daggers until each and every one of them struck their target and build up my stamina until every part of my body ached. Of course the District 2 trainers had taught me well but Cato was determined to train until I was up to his standards of prepared. My parents were of course pleased to see I was training with Cato in the hope that this year it would be me by Cato's side at the Games despite the twelve hours a day I spent at the training room. I just wasn't sure whether I could trust him because there was still a small part of me which regarded Cato with caution. I couldn't get rid of the suspicion that maybe Cato wanted to become the victor so desperately that he wouldn't be beneath playing dirty.

"Okay," Cato panted. He took off his boxing headgear and pads and shook the sweat out of his hair.

"We're done?" I asked gleefully and without waiting for his response I took off my headgear and gloves and threw them at the trainer who was helping us.

"What? I thought you wanted to do some weights today," Cato frowned.

"Well you thought wrong, the only thing I want to do right now is get some sleep."

Cato gave me a knowing look. He knew weights were my weakness but I couldn't bring myself to confront them after eleven hours of training. So after a quick irritable nod from Cato I rushed towards the showers and blissfully let the water mixed with some sort of Capitol herb do its work. I didn't want to head straight home today because I knew my parents would still be working until late at night and my brother Jules's annoying girlfriend was probably at my house parading up and down the stairs in her Capitol outfits. I finished packing up my kit and headed out onto the main street. It was a beautiful night, warm yet crisp. The kind of day where you should be sitting on a table outside a café drinking frozen grape and cherry beverages while thinking about the finer things in life, I mused and found myself walking to Geri's. On the nicer days like today they put out tables at the front and I could see an empty table already which I claimed by throwing my bag on a seat and pushing through a crowd to order my drink.

I returned to the table after a heated argument about skipping the line and noticed that the other seat was taken. Taken by a muscular blonde boy who looked awfully familiar. I looked at the table with disdain and cursed my luck.

"Hello Cato," I managed to force the words out of my mouth, "I believe this table is mine."

"I saw your bag and I thought we could share until another table cleared out," he said with a challenging tone.

Didn't he having anything better to do then to go to the same drinks bar as me? Cato was a great trainer but I didn't want to spend a whole evening with him. I threw my kit from a chair angrily at the floor and slumped down on my seat. Just what I needed for a relaxing evening, the boy who put me on edge. There was something about Cato that bothered me but I couldn't put my finger on it. He was always alone or with the other boys in training class but even then he didn't treat them like friends, more like amusing creatures beneath his superiority.

"Don't you have any…friends?" I snapped, mostly out of curiosity.

"Do you Clove?" He asked and bringing the ball back to my end looked around him mockingly, "because I can't see any."

"I..I do have friends," I argued stubbornly. This conversation was taking a turn for the worst. Then I thought about the last time I'd met up with Gabby or Rox. We used to go out to Geri's together and make fun of Jules but since I had replaced Librae I hardly found time to see them.

As if he'd read my mind Cato suddenly leaned forward so that I could see the gold flecks his clear blue eyes and said, "And when was the last time you saw them? Let me guess…before you moved up in training. Because _tributes don't have friends._ It holds them back. They have allies. Keep that in mind."

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**A/N: Thank you so much for reading/subscribing guys! As well as a thank you to: ****Gl33k**** , Caltoshipperftw, ****themusicfiend****, ****Bronze Cat**** and ****Amanda Katniss Granger**** for reviewing!**

**I know this chapter's a bit crappy and rushed because I've had coursework deadlines etc etc but I really wanted to get another chapter out so I hope you enjoyed it! **

**I actually kind of got carried away writing the next chapter which I like a lot more so I watch this space? xD**


	4. Eyes Wide Shut

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games and I think I've made that pretty clear so last disclaimer in this story guys? ;D**

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My throat was caught in his death grip. I was forced onto my knees and my right arm was twisted behind my back. Slowly my oxygen supply began to reach a dangerously low level; I knew I had seconds to act.

Ever since Cato had let me in on his thoughts about tributes and friends nearly every action of his put me on guard. From his ferocious sword tactics he decided to demonstrate the day after on a dummy that looked suspiciously like me, to him talking to Silver at the end of every group session while glancing at me. This however, frightened me a little. I gave up struggling against Cato and thought through my options hurriedly. Dying wasn't going to be one of them. I couldn't overpower Cato but I could kill him if I could somehow break free, I thought and noticed a weight on my left thigh shift. Without any hesitation I moved my hand to my knife pouch while simultaneously kicking any part of Cato I could reach. I heard a satisfying crack and saw him fall to his knees and finally loosening his grip on my throat. I pulled the knife out from its leather pouch and made a deep gash on his arm that had captured me, after all this was what I was trained to do.

Cato yelled and immediately let go of me. I decided to attack while he was weak and pushed him against a wall of training mats. Before he could even process anything or retaliate, I had my knife at his throat. Who did he think he was? I thought bitterly while staring into the blue eyes of the boy who had just tried to kill me. I nearly trusted him. So very nearly but this entire time helping me was just another way to help himself thinking that I would have my eyes wide shut the entire time.

"What," he gasped, "the hell are you doing Clove?" Cato's eyes searched mine with anger. He didn't dare move with the edge of my knife resting comfortably on his throat. I didn't show any sign of confusion or any of the mixed emotions I was feeling right now, I didn't want to show him any sign of weakness.

"I should be asking you the same question. _What the hell are you doing Cato?_" I sneered, half mocking, half demanding.

"We were training in combat today remember?" Cato snarled with his eyes flashing, "Now let go of me."

"Combat training doesn't include trying to ki-" I yelped.

Cato look his chance to slide my off my feet by sweeping his foot under my shins and yanked my hand whilst battling the knife out of my hand. Just before I crumpled to the floor with the impact of his shin kick, he wrapped his hand around my waist and in one fluid motion pushed me violently against the training mats wall. The mats cushioned the blow but just as I raised my fists to do as much damage as I could to Cato, his hands pinned my arms by my side with a grip of steel. There was no way out.

"Now," he said raising his eyebrows, "let's talk about this sensibly."

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**_Author's note - _****(Anon/Nina/Artist quest/ all those waiting)** I am so very sorry about the late update. I actually wrote this chapter out on the back of a pad on a really long, really boring train journey but I kept on pushing it out of the way because I had a final deadline kinda thing for the last two weeks so I told myself I wouldn't type it out until I'd finished that.

**Also thank you once again for reading/reviewing (********Anon/Nina) and Artist quest, thank you for the lavhly words**

**********Feel free to review, I'd love to know what you think of this chapter!**

**********(Here's a song for this chapter : Twin Atlantic - Make A Beast Of Myself)**


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